F 
129 

bP, PALMYRA 



NEW YORK 




Qass. 
Book. 




Prospect Hill. 



f^l^^^n^vi^ vjmJ^^^^-^-^ 






Still o'er these scenes my memory waives 
Jind fondly broods with miser care, 
17ime but the impression deeper makes 
Jls streams their channels deeper wear. 

— ROBERT burn; 



COMPILED BY 

THE WOMAN'S SOCIETY OF THE 
WESTERN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 

M C M V I I 



Y 



PALMYRA 



WAYNE COUNTY, NEW YORK 






LIBRARY Of CONGKESS 


Two Copies Raceived 


DEC 18 1907 


Copyri£ni Entry 
v>L/\SSv/|- XXc. ij. 



Copyrighted by 

The Western Presbyterian Church. 

1907. 



The Herald Press. Rochester. N. Y. 



PALMYRA 






N the winter of 1788-9 John Swift and Colonel 
John Jenkins purchased Tract 12, Range 2, now 
Palmyra, and commenced the survey of it into 
farm lots in March. Thus wrote Orsamus 
Turner in his "History of the Pioneer Settlement of 
the Phelps and Gorham Purchase." 

Swift and Jenkins, sent out from the Wyoming 
Valley Settlement after the Pennamite War, were ad- 
vance agents for those dissatisfied pioneers. Trouble 
between the Indians and Jenkins and his associates 
made an end to this Pennsylvania movement. 

John Swift bought out Jenkins and went to New 
England to encourage migration to his tract. During 
the summer of 1789 Swift returned to this then west 
and built a log house with a store house at the junction 
of the present Main and Canal Streets. 

Before the close of the same year Webb Harwood, 
the second permanent settler, brought in his family 
from Adams, Massachusetts. Many families — separate 
or in company — closely followed. William Jackway, 
John Hurlburt, Jonathan Millett, Nathan Parshall, 
Barney Horton and Mrs. Tiffany came from Wyoming. 




General John Swift. 



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Primeval Oak. on the Theodore Whillock Farm, Spared by John Swift. 

Captain James Galloway came from Monroe, Orange 
County, to the farm where his son still lives — 1907. 

Cummington, Massachusetts, sent Lemuel Spear 
— the third settler — and a few months later, Noah 
Porter, David Warner and David White. 

Gideon and Edward Durfee of Tiverton, Rhode 
Island, came on foot from Albany. Fast on them fol- 
lowed — mostly in bateaux — twelve others of the Dur- 
fee family. The advent of Gideon Durfee was most 
opportune. He payed in coin for his 1,600 acres, thus 



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'"Mb.. 



iiJ^TTI 




Site of First House. 
7 



enabling Swift to meet his indebtedness to the Phelps 
and Gorham company, and to secure a warranty deed 
of the town. 

Beside the Durfees, Rhode Island sent to Tolland 
— as Palmyra was called — Isaac Springer, William, 
James and Thomas Rogers, Festus and Isaac Gold- 
smith, Humphrey Sherman, Zebulon Williams, Weaver 
Osborne, David Wilcox, and Nathan Harris, father of 
Martin Harris. 

In 1792 Elias Reeves, Abraham Foster, William 
Hopkins, Luther Sanford and Joel Foster, representing 
the Long Island company, took a deed from Swift for 
5,500 acres along the Ganargua creek. On Monday, 
April 4, 1792, the colonists set sail on Heady creek, 
near Southampton, Long Island, for their new home 
five hundred miles to the north and westward. It was 
a tedious trip with long, hard carries but was accom- 
plished in twenty-eight days. 

Many a thrilling tale of conflict with the Indians 
or abounding wild animals is told. The former were 
so feared that a block house was begun on the brow of 
Wintergreen hill. It was not finished for the victories 
of Mad Anthony Wayne set the pioneers at rest. 

Many a pretty romance was lived here in the 
woods. Clarissa Wilcox, daughter of David and Ruth 
Durfee Wilcox, went to the door to give a thirsty 
hunter a drink. Ambrose Hall returned to his home 
in Lanesboro, Massachusetts, but soon came back to 




Elm on Wilcox Farm. 

marry his Rebekah and to settle. Two of their daugh- 
ters married Leonard and Lawrence Jerome, Palmyra 
boys, who became Wall Street financiers. 

For a short time the settlements in Tract 12, 
Range 2, were called after John Swift; then Tolland 
until January 4, 1796, when a meeting was held to 
choose a permanent name. Daniel Sawyer, brother- 
in-law to Swift, was engaged to Miss Dosha Boughton, 
the first school mistress. He had been reading ancient 
history and had concluded if Zenobia had a Palmyra 
his queen should dwell there, too. Therefore he pro- 
posed the name, which was adopted. 




Palmyra — East from Prospect Hill. 

Until 1823, when the present Wayne County was 
formed, Palmyra was included in Ontario County. 

Palmyra held her first town meeting and elected 
her first officers at the house of Gideon Durfee, in 
April, 1796. 

In 1812 Macedon was set off. Palmyra village 
was incorporated March 29, 1827, while the first village 
election was held at the house of Lovell Hurd, Febru- 
ary 4, 1828, when the following officers were elected: 
Trustees, Joseph Colt, president, Joel Thayer, Thomas 



%«m 






Palmyra — West from Prospect Hill. 
lO 



Rogers, Nathaniel H. Beckwith and James White; 
clerk, Thomas P. Baldwin; treasurer, William Parke; 
assessors, George N. Williams, Alvah Hendee and 
George Beckwith ; fire wardens, Stephen Ackley, Pliny 
Sexton and Benjamin Throop. 

On February 19 it was voted to buy an engine and 
ladders, and to provide water to be used in case of fire. 
That May twenty men organized a fire company, which 
has grown into the well equipped Volunteer Firemen 
of Palmyra with some eighty members, and with three 
organizations — the Steamer and Hose Company, the 
Sexton Hydrant Hose Company, and the Protective 
Hook and Ladder Company. 

Palmyra postoffice was established in 1806 with 
Dr. Azel Ensworth the first postmaster. The Doctor 
kept the first public house in the corporation. It stood 
on the site of the present Methodist church and was 
opened in 1792. In 1796 Louis Philippe of France 
stopped on his return from Niagara at the log tavern 
opened by Gideon Durfee where the George Townsend 
house now stands. The present Powers Hotel, built 
where a succession of hostelries have stood, was erect- 
ed about 1835 by a company of public spirited men, 
who sold it to the genial host — the late William P. 
Nottingham. As the Palmyra House he kept it nearly 
thirty years. 

Robert Town, the earliest settled physician, was 
in Palmyra but a short time. As early as 1800, possi- 
bly before, he was succeeded by Dr. Gain Robinson 



from Cummington, Massachusetts. Once when Dr. 
Robinson desired counsel he sent to his old home for 
Dr. Bryant, father of the poet, who hurried here on 
horseback. Dr. Robinson lived at the head of Main 
street where now resides Mr. Pliny S. Aldrich. In his 
ofBce studied Alexander Mclntyre an allopath, and 
Durfee Chase, a homeopath — afterwards local prac- 
titioners. To-day doctors of both schools minister to 
the sick. 

Palmyra's first lawyer was John Comstock. Other 
early barristers were Judge Tiffany, Judge Hiram K. 
Jerome and Justice Theron R. Strong. Well equipped 
men have been and are to-day their successors. 

Zebulon Williams was the first storekeeper — in a 
log house near the present Central station. The first 
emporium in the corporation was kept by Major 
Joseph Colt on the west corner of Main and Market 
streets. 

Patrick O'Rouke, Samuel Jennings, Alvah Hen- 
dee, James and Orren White, who erected the first 
tv/o story brick building, — all these were forerunners 
of Joel Foster, George, Nathaniel and Baruch Beck- 
with, J. C. Lovett, David Sanford, the Thayers, Lasher 
and Candee, William Jarvis, James Jenner, Birdsall 
and Sanford, Edwin Anderson, Sr., Bowman and 
Walker, W. H. Farnham, M. Story, and many another 
successful business man. 

William Wilson, Henry Jessup, George Palmer, 
and Wells Anderson — in the order named — were early 
tanners. 12 




Powers Hotel. 




Flag Pole. 
Corner of Main and Fayette Streets. 

Salmon Hathaway kept a saddlery on the site of 
the present Village Hall, while Calvin Perrine opened 
the first carding mill and clothiery. Edward Durfee 
and Jonah Hall operated the pioneer grist mill and saw 
mill. 

15 




Elms Overlooking Site of the First Grist Mill, on the Charles R. 
Harrison Farm. 

In 1823 Pliny Sexton, later associated with Martin 
Butterfield, brought to his — the first — hardware store 
the first cooking stove. He was the pioneer silver- 
smith, and introduced sewing machines in the com- 
munity. 

To-day Palmyra boasts many good shops — dry 
goods, hardware, jewelry, drug, grocery, and shoe 
stores. 

Different factories have been located here. At 
present the Globe Manufacturing Co. — 1864 — now the 
Peerless, and J. M. Jones & Co. — 1871 — now Chandler 



i6 




The Palmyra Union Agricultural Society. 



and Price, make printing presses or their parts. In the 
early eighties the Garlock Packing Company was 
formed by OHn J. Garlock, inventor of a packing for 
steam engines. The Crandall Packing Co. ; the Dealers 
Packing Co.; the Triumph Packing Co.; Williamson 
Bros., cigar manufacturers; the Drake Box Factory; 
the Cator Dump Wagon Co.; the Sessions Cement 
Plant, — the list makes a goodly showing. 




The Triumph Packing Company. 

In January, 1868, the Village Hall was completed. 
Since 1857 gas has been suppUed to the village, while 
electricity was first furnished in 1894. The water sys- 
tem was installed in 1890. 

June 26, 1856, seventeen men organized themselves 
as the Palmyra Union Agricultural Society, and held 
a three days fair that October. From then until the 
present, successful annual fairs have been held on the 
extensive, well kept Fair Grounds on Jackson Street. 



19 



The local banking business began with the Wayne 
County Bank of Palmyra, organized in 1830, with its 
president Angus Strong — succeeded by Thomas Rog- 
ers, George Beckwith and Abram Spear — and its cash- 
ier, Joseph S. Fenton. This bank built and occupied 
until its failure in 1840 the offices and residence where 
now is the First National Bank. 

The Palmyra Savings Bank, incorporated in April, 
1842, enjoyed a brief existence. 

Lyman Lyon and S. B. Gavitt carried on a private 
banking business from December, 1865, until June, 
1867, when Lyon bought Gavitt's interest to continue 
alone until his death, in August, 1887. 

In 1866 H. P. Knowles & Co. opened a private 
banking business which still continues. 

The Palmyra Bank, established by Pliny Sexton 
in 1844, did business in the east section of the present 
Story store. Later, George W. Cuyler opened the 
Cuyler Bank in the old offices of the Wayne County 
Bank. In April, 1853, these houses were associated 
and, in Mr. Cuyler's offices, continued as Cuyler's Bank 
of Palmyra with George W. Cuyler, president ; Pliny 
Sexton, vice president, and Stephen P. Seymour, cash- 
ier. In 1864 this bank became the First National Bank 
with the following directors : George W. Cuyler, pres- 
ident; Pliny Sexton, vice president; Pliny T. Sexton, 
cashier: William H. Cuyler, Charles McLouth and 
David S. Aldrich. 




PQ 



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2e 



0) (X 




lar-ua Mill 



"Easy conveyance for men and goods from place 
to place" is essential to the prosperity of any com- 
munity. The early paths throughs the forests have be- 
come highways — the first, Canandaigua road in 1793. 
John Swift, with others, cleared Ganargua creek to its 
junction with the Canandaigua outlet, and in 1799 it 
was declared navigable water. This stream was the 
principal route until the opening of the Erie canal in 
1825. The tumbled down collector's office on Canal 
street gives little idea of the business done by "Clin- 
ton's big ditch." From the day the Governor's boat — 
greeted at every settlement — officially opened the canal 



24 



until the railroad usurped most of its traffic, the Erie 
canal was the great instrument in opening this new 
country. It carried freight and it carried people. When 
the packet approached a station a trumpet blared to set 
the town agog, the horses were put in a fast trot and 
with gusto drew the boat to the landing. 

The New York Central railroad came through in 
1853, and the West Shore in 1884. Morris Huxley- 
known to all as Dad Huxley — drove the omnibus to 
the first train to stop here. For thirty-four years Dad's 
hearty greeting and 'bus welcomed all arrivals. The 
omnibus service to the stations has been discontinued 
since the advent in 1906 of the Rochester, Syracuse 
and Eastern electric road, for this trolley does nearly 
all the local passenger business. 








Sexton Warehouse on Erie Canal, Built by Franklin Lakey. 



26 




Here Henry Wells Was Married. 

Henry Wells, afterwards founder of Wells Col- 
lege, starting from Palmyra, carried parcels short dis- 
tances in a hand bag. His business grew until it need- 
ed a horse and wagon. In 1845 was formed the firm 
of Wells & Co., one of the earUest express companies 
in the country. This, merged with others, became the 
American Express Co. Henry Wells married his first 
wife — Sally Daggett — in the little weather beaten 
house that stands opposite Stafford street on the north 
side of Main street. 

On November 26, 1817, Timothy C. Strong sent 
out the Palmyra Register — Democratic — the first news- 



27 



paper in what is now Wayne County. In 1823, after 
various changes of title, it was bought and continued 
as the Wayne County Sentinel by Pomeroy Tucker 
and Egbert P. Grandin. Up to its end in 1860 this 
sheet often changed editors, names and politics. It 
was on the press of the Wayne County Sentinel — in 
1830 — that the first edition of the Mormon Bible was 
printed. John H. Gilbert did the type setting and 
press work. He kept a copy of the book in the original 
sheets, which is now owned by P. T. Sexton. The 
press used was recently sold to the Mormons by F. 
W. demons. Other newspapers enjoyed each its brief 
existence. Frederick Morley issued the Palmyra 
Courier in 1838 and continued its publication until 
1851. In 1854 it was known as the Palmyra Democrat; 
but in August of that year the present editor, E. S. 
Averill, bought it and restored the original name. He 
brought it to the support of the Republican party, and 
added a novel feature — a page devoted to local items. 

In 1871 Anson B. demons and Frederick W. 
demons, his son, established the Wayne County Jour- 
nal — the first newspaper or printing house in the coun- 
ty to use steam power. The Journal is now edited by 
Frederick Foster for the Palmyra Printing Company. 

A widefelt movement emanating from Palmyra is 
the Church of Latter Day Saints. In 1816 Joseph 
Smith, Sr., moved here from Vermont with his wife 
and nine children. For two years he kept a cake and 

28 



beer shop on lower Main street. Then he moved his 
family to a wild tract south of the village which, within 
this present year, the Mormons have bought as the 
well kept farm of William Avery Chapman. The 
Smiths were interested in things occult. With a "magic 
stone" they claimed to locate stolen articles and buried 
treasure, and to forecast the future. In the summer of 
1827 Joseph Smith, Jr., claimed that he beheld a vision. 
The second was announced that fall while others fol- 
lowed hard apace until Smith said he was directed to 




Mormon Hill. 

find the golden plates. He went out at night and alone 
to return bearing a mysterious package which he said 
contained the treasure with the stones by which he 
could translate. These were found on Mormon Hill — 
a Mecca for his disciples to this present day. Sidney 
Rigdon, Oliver Cowdery the amanuensis, and Martin 
Harris, who furnished the money for printing, were 
conspicuous in the incipient stages of the powerful 

29 




Farm of William Avery Chapman, Purchased by the Mormons of Utah. 



hierarchy of Utah. In 1830 the Mormon Bible ap- 
peared. That June saw the organization of the Church 
of Latter Day Saints with, beside the Smith family, 
some thirty members drawn from this and neighboring 
communities. Sidney Rigdon, the first regular Mor- 
mon preacher, held a meeting in the rooms of the Pal- 
myra Young Men's Association on the east corner of 
Main and Market streets. He was confronted by a 
small, unsympathetic audience. Late in the summer 
of 1830 Joseph Smith, Jr., and his followers left Pal- 
myra for Kirtland, Ohio. 



30 



The New England settlers of Palmyra could not 
be long without their school house. In 1793 two were 
built of logs — the one on a site in the village given by 
John Swift ; the other, the Hopkins school in East Pal- 
myra. Much later the partisan spirit was rife and 
crept into educational matters to such an extent that 
two frame school houses were built — the Federalist, 
taught by Blackman, and the Democratic, under Ira 
Selby. Before the site of the present Roman Catholic 
Church was graded down, on the crest of the hill stood 
the Palmyra Academy, a two story brick building that 
boasted the first bell in town. 




One of the Three District Schools. 
31 



In 1835 the village was divided into three districts 
each with its stone school house. One stood on the 
west corner of Main and Carroll streets ; another on the 
north side of Jackson, between Cuyler and Fayette 
streets ; and the third on the east side of Throop street. 
The last teachers were: No. 1, John R. Vosburgh; No. 
2, Henry J. Foster; No. 3, Charles H. Graham. 

These three districts were united in 1846 as Union 
School No. 1 of Palmyra. March 19, 1847, an act au- 
thorized the village to levy taxes for a lot and building. 
April 11 the school was incorporated. The present site 
was bought of the Samuel Beckwith estate for $2,500, 
and the "old school house," a square, three story brick 
edifice, was built. The first board of trustees was A. P. 
Crandall, Theron R. Strong and Pliny Sexton; R. G. 
Pardee was clerk. The first faculty was : Justus W. 
French, principal; William M. Crosby, A. M., and 
Sarah D. Hance, seniors; Charles D, Foster, juniors; 
Clarissa Northrup, juveniles; Edward M. French, Me- 
linda C. Jones and A. Maria West, assistants; E. Lusk, 
instrumental music; C. D. Foster and J. C. French, 
vocal music; DeWitt Mclntyre, lecturer on physiol- 
ogy. The Palmyra Union School in 1857 became the 
Palmyra Classical Union School with a board of nine 
trustees officered by Stephen Hyde, president; Joseph 
W. Corning, secretary, and Joseph C. Lovett, treasurer. 
The first building was used until 1889 when the present 
structure was built on the old lot. In 1905 a large 
study hall and other rooms were added. 




Union School. 

PRINCIPALS 
Baldwin 



C. M. Hutchins 
John Dunlap 
W. H. Fitts 
C. M. Hutchins 
Henry F. Curt - 
E. B. Fancher - 
A. S. Downing 
H. G. Clark 
George W. Pye 
S. Dwight Arms 
W. J. Deans 
W. W. Bullock 



1857 
1857-62 
1862-66 
1866-68 
1868-75 
1875-82 
1882-86 
1886-87 
1887-90 
1890-94 
1894-98 
1898-06 

1906 




The Public Library, Home of the Late Carlton H. Rogers. 

The complement of the free school is the free libra- 
ry. On the first day of November, 1899, the King's 
Daughters opened a public reading room. In Septem- 
ber, 1901, a Library Association was formed with a five 
year charter from the state. The first gift of books was 
sixty volumes from the Patrons of Husbandry. In 
July, 1906, the Association received a perpetual char- 
ter, and now, 1907, the library numbers twenty-five 
hundred volumes. 



35 



Palmyra pioneers had their school house in 1793, 
their first church building — in the eastern part of the 
town — in 1807. 

The first meeting house in the village — erected 
in 1811 on land given by General Swift for a Union 




Grave of John Swift. 

church — was built almost entirely by the Presbyteri- 
ans, who occupied it until 1832. This same building 
was used as a town hall. It was of wood, painted 
white with green blinds, and was burned in 1838. 
Around it, in true New England way, was the church 
yard — now the "old cemetery.' Here lie John Swift 



36 



and Zebulon Williams with many another early comer. 
This was not the first burying ground in the town, 
for that was on the farm of Gideon Durfee, east of the 
village, recently purchased by Mr. Mitchell of Mrs. 
Hiram Clark. Here rests Gideon Durfee. In 1844 the 




First Burying Ground. 

present cemetery was opened, while two years later a 
receiving vault was built. In 1886 the Rogers Memo- 
rial Chapel was erected with a fund left by Carlton H. 
Rogers. 

The Roman Catholic cemetery was consecrated 
during 1868. 



37 



As has been stated, the purchase of Swift and Jen- 
kins included under the name of Palmyra the present 
Macedon, Palmyra, and East Palmyra. So the parish 
of the Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was this entire 
section. The Rev. Ira Condit organized a Congrega- 
tional church in David H. Foster's house December 5, 
1793. Later this church adopted the Presbyterian form 
of government and was connected with the Presbytery 
of Geneva until the formation of the Lyons Presbytery 
in 1857. The Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was in- 
corporated the twenty-eighth day of September, 1797, 
the date given in the certificate of incorporation filed 
in the office of the Clerk of Ontario county. In this 
same document it is stated that the trustees were Jacob 
Gannett, David Warner, Jedediah Foster, Jonah How- 
ell, Thomas Goldsmith and Stephen Reeves. From 
the formation of the church until 1817 the pastors 
preached alternate Sabbaths in the east and in the west 
ends of the township. Among the early ministers were 
Mr. Johnson in 1795; in 1800 Eleazor Fairbanks, fol- 
lowed by Mr. Lane; 1811-16, Hippocrates Rowe, who 
in 1812 occupied the only house on Canandaigua street ; 
1815, Stephen M. Wheelock, who went with the west- 
ern part at the division. 

In 1807 the first church building — situated in the 
eastern part of the town — was used, but it was not 
completed or dedicated until 1810. As has been said, 
the west end Presbyterians built a meeting house in 
1811. 

40 



In accordance with a request of the church, made 
February 13, 1817, the Presbytery divided the Church 
of Palmyra into the Presbyterian Church of East Pal- 
myra, and the Western Presbyterian Church of Pal- 
myra. The certificate of incorporation of this latter 
branch, recorded in Canandaigua the thirteenth of 
May, 1817, reads: 

We hereby certify that on the eighteenth day of 
March, 1817, a number of male inhabitants residing 
within the limits of the Western Presbyterian Church 
in the town of Palmyra met pursuant to publick no- 
tice, in the Meeting House in the Village of Palmyra, 
and agreed to be incorporated into a society to be 
known by the name of the Western Presbyterian 
Church and Society in the town of Palmyra, and pro- 
ceeded to elect David White, Joel Foster, Henry Jes- 
sup, Charles Bradish, James White, and Isaac Howell 
to serve as trustees of said society. In witness whereof 
we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 13th 
day of May, 1817. 

Gain Robinson (seal) 
Joel Foster (seal) Moderators 

of said 
Meeting. 

The Rev. Francis Pomeroy assisted in the organ- 
ization of this western branch. The present edifice 
was built in 1832 and dedicated in 1834. 

On the wall of the church, near the pulpit, is a 



41 



As has been stated, the purchase of Swift and Jen- 
kins included under the name of Palmyra the present 
Macedon, Palmyra, and East Palmyra. So the parish 
of the Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was this entire 
section. The Rev. Ira Condit organized a Congrega- 
tional church in David H. Foster's house December 5, 
1793. Later this church adopted the Presbyterian form 
of government and was connected with the Presbytery 
of Geneva until the formation of the Lyons Presbytery 
in 1857. The Presbyterian Church of Palmyra was in- 
corporated the twenty-eighth day of September, 1797, 
the date given in the certificate of incorporation filed 
in the office of the Clerk of Ontario county. In this 
same document it is stated that the trustees were Jacob 
Gannett, David Warner, Jedediah Foster, Jonah How- 
ell, Thomas Goldsmith and Stephen Reeves. From 
the formation of the church until 1817 the pastors 
preached alternate Sabbaths in the east and in the west 
ends of the township. Among the early ministers were 
Mr. Johnson in 1795; in 1800 Eleazor Fairbanks, fol- 
lowed by Mr. Lane; 1811-16, Hippocrates Rowe, who 
in 1812 occupied the only house on Canandaigua street ; 
1815, Stephen M. Wheelock, who went with the west- 
ern part at the division. 

In 1807 the first church building — situated in the 
eastern part of the town — was used, but it was not 
completed or dedicated until 1810. As has been said, 
the west end Presbyterians built a meeting house in 
1811. 

40 



In accordance with a request of the church, made 
February 13, 1817, the Presbytery divided the Church 
of Palmyra into the Presbyterian Church of East Pal- 
myra, and the Western Presbyterian Church of Pal- 
myra. The certificate of incorporation of this latter 
branch, recorded in Canandaigua the thirteenth of 
May, 1817, reads: 

We hereby certify that on the eighteenth day of 
March, 1817, a number of male inhabitants residing 
within the limits of the Western Presbyterian Church 
in the town of Palmyra met pursuant to publick no- 
tice, in the Meeting House in the Village of Palmyra, 
and agreed to be incorporated into a society to be 
known by the name of the Western Presbyterian 
Church and Society in the town of Palmyra, and pro- 
ceeded to elect David White, Joel Foster, Henry Jes- 
sup, Charles Bradish, James White, and Isaac Howell 
to serve as trustees of said society. In witness whereof 
we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 13th 
day of May, 1817. 

Gain Robinson (seal) 
Joel Foster (seal) Moderators 

of said 
Meeting. 

The Rev. Francis Pomeroy assisted in the organ- 
ization of this western branch. The present edifice 
was built in 1832 and dedicated in 1834. 

On the wall of the church, near the pulpit, is a 



41 



marble tablet sacred to the memory of Horace Eaton, 
D. D., pastor from 1849 to 1879: 

"Fairer seems the ancient city, and the 

Sunshine seems more fair, 
That he once has trod its pavements, 

That he once has breathed its air!" 

Dr. Eaton lived in Palmyra until his death on the 
twenty-first of October, 1883. 

At a memorial service the Honorable Henry R. 
Durfee said in part: 

''When the elders of Epheseus went down to Mile- 
tus for what proved to be their farewell interview with 
Paul, 'they all wept sore . . sorrowing most 

of all for the words that he spake, that they should see 
his face no more.' 

"It was their sense of personal loss that filled their 
eyes with tears as they realized that the loving pres- 
ence of their friend and teacher would shortly disap- 
pear from their sight forever. 

"And so it is with us as we gather here to make 
some expression of our grief at the loss of our friend 
and teacher. It is our loss that we lament to-day. 
For him to die is gain. In this assemblage it is not so 
much the man of mark, of wide influence, of high at- 
tainments, fitted worthily to bear the title of 'doctor 
of divinity,' as our friend endeared to us by long ac- 
quaintance and companionship, that we mourn. And 
I think that the personal qualities and traits which at- 
tracted us and gained him our affection are at this time 

42 



uppermost in our minds. In recalling the personal 
characteristics of our dear friend and pastor, it has 
seemed to me that one of the most marked was his 
constant and abounding cheerfulness. This arose, not 
from cynical indifference, or stoical fortitude — for none 
was more sympathetic, compassionate and tender 
hearted than he — but from the depth and serenity of 
his faith. 

"Another characteristic was his keen perception 
and love of the sublime and beautiful. His was the 
true poetic soul, to which 'a thing of beauty is a joy 
forever.' Whether he listened to the giant harp of 
the wind swept woods, the 'breezy call of incense- 
breathing morn,' the songs of the birds, the pealing 
thunder, or the deep diapason of the sea, his ear was 
attuned to all their harmonies. He recognized with 
reverent delight the voice of the Great Creator in every 
harmony of the wind or wave, and His creative hand 
in every perfect form or tint of earth or sky. And as 
in Nature, so also in literature and art, whatever was 
grand or beautiful found in him an enthusiastic and 
appreciative admirer. 

Nor was this refined, aesthetic taste and percep- 
tion at all allied to weakness. On the contrary, he 
had in his character not a little of the granite of his 
native hills. No war of elements or opinions, and no 
obstacles natural or conventional, could deter him 
from vigorously and valiantly following the path in 
which he believed his duty called him. 

43 



To the preaching of the Word, also, he brought a 
Hke courage and vigor, and robustness of understand- 
ing He was not afraid to grapple with the great 
problems of the life that now is, and that which is to 
come, and with the profound truths of the Scripture ; 
and he brought to their consideration a grasp of mind, 
and an intentness and clearness of thought which was 
most truly edifying to thoughtful minds. And yet I 
think he loved especially to dwell upon the divine ten- 
derness and compassion, and to entreat us by the 
mercies of God to be reconciled to Him. 

"Well may we sorrow that we shall see his face no 
more. Yet his teachings and his life shall not fail from 
our memory. These shall rest upon and remain with 
us like a benediction, — and an inspiration also, — lead- 
ing each of us with sweet persuasion to a nobler, 
purer, and higher life." 

Nineteen sons of the Western Presbyterian 
Church have studied for the ministry. Among them 
were John Eaton, son of Dr. Eaton, who died before 
completing his course; Warner Bradley Riggs, who in 
October, 1876, went as a home missionary to Texas, 
where he organized the Brenham Church, and was 
pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Dallas 
from 1885 until his death in March, 1905, and Charles 
Foster Kent, Ph. D., Woolsey Professor of Biblical 
Literature in Yale University. There have gone out 
as foreign missionaries, Martha Lovell, Maria West 
and Sarah West, to Constantinople; and Cora Stone 
to Japan. 44 




y> £:^^>^^^^^Lj 




. WoMrv. 



" The path of the just is as the shining light, that shin eth man 
and more unto the perfect day.'" — Prov. 4 : i8. 

''Friends my soul with joy remembers ! 
Ho7u like quivering flames they start. 
When I fan the living embers 
On the hearthstone of my heart /" 

— Longfellow. 



45 




VVcsicm Prer>bvierian Church. 



PASTORS OF THE WESTERN PRESBYTERIAN 
CHURCH. 

Stephen M. Wheelock, April, 1817. 
Jesse Townsend, August, 1817. 
Daniel C. Hopkins, stated supply, January, 1822. 
Benjamin B. Stockton, February, 1824. 
Stephen Porter, stated supply, October, 1827. 
Alfred D. Campbell, November, 1828. 
Samuel W. Whepley, September, 1831. 
George R. H. Shumway, December, 1834. 
Nathaniel W. Fisher, 1840. 

Goetner, D. D., stated supply, 1848. 

Horace Eaton, D. D., February, 1849. 
Warren H. Landon, D. D., December, 1879. 
Herbert D. Cone, October, 1887. 
Stephen G. Hopkins, April, 1890. 
Angus Hugh Cameron, February, 1897. 
Peter McKenzie, May, 1904. 



47 



The First Baptist Church of Palmyra was organ- 
ized at the home of Lemuel Spear, May 29, 1800, with 
nineteen members. In 1808 a frame meeting house 
was built on the west side of the Walworth road just 
north of where it is crossed by the Macedon road. 
November 9, 1832, a Baptist church was instituted in 
the village — at the home of Rev. John D. Heart — but 
after a year was received into the older church. In 
accord with an agreement made when these societies 
joined, the pastor preached alternate Sundays in his 
church and in the Palmyra Academy. A final separa- 
tion came in February, 1835, when the older society 
as the First Baptist Church of Macedon retained the 
property, while the younger moved to the village as 
the First Baptist Church of Palmyra. The seventy- 
eight members of this latter branch elected for deacons 
R, C. Jackson, William Parke and E. R. Spear; for 
trustees, R. C. Jackson, William Rogers and Stephen 
Spear. Services were held in the meeting house on 
burial hill until it was burned in 1838: then in Will- 
iamson Hall until the old stone church was dedicated 
January 28, 1841. This was torn down in 1870 to give 
place for the present brick structure which was dedi- 
cated March 29, 1871. This church sent Mrs. Jane 
Mason Haswell to Burmah where she labored as a 
missionary from 1835 to 1884. It has given four min- 
isters, Thomas Rogers, C. B. Crane, Charles Shear 
and Albert Clark. 



48 




Baptist Church. 



PASTORS OF THE BAPTIST CHURCH. 

H. V. Jones, April, 1835. 

W. I. Crane, April, 1837. 

A. H. Stowell, December, 1839. 

S. Wilson, supply, December, 1840. 

A. H. Burlingham, April, 1841. 

W. B. Douglass, supply, November, 1842. 

D. Harrington, June, 1843. 

G. W. Gates, April, 1852. 

William R. Webb, July, 1853. 

Warham Mudge, February, 1857. 

S. Adsit, October, 1862. 

C. N. Pattengill, July, 1867. 

Hardin Wheat, January, 1874. 

Addison Parker, October, 1876. 

J. Cyrus Thoms, September, 1881. 

J. R. Henderson, November, 1885. 

F. H. Adams, June, 1897. 

G. H. Hubbard, D. D., November, 1903. 



50 



It is impossible to learn when Methodism was 
first preached in Palmyra; but the first class, formed 
in 1811 and connected with the Ontario circuit, Geneva 
conference, may be considered the beginning of the 
First Methodist Episcopal Church of Palmyra. These 
early followers of Wesley met in school house, barn, 
or grove until 1822, when they legally organized them- 
selves into a society and built a church near the corner 
of Vienna and Johnson streets, just north of the cem- 
etery. Here they worshipped until 1847 when the 
house was removed to Cuyler street, remodelled and 
used until the dedication of the present brick building, 
October 31, 1867. 

Albert A. Allen and Charles D. Purdy represent 
this church in the ministry. 



51 



PASTORS OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH 



Wooster, 

Gideon Osborne, 

Tomkinson, 

Wilson Osborne, 
Preston Parker, 
Ralph Bennett, 
Z. J. Buck, 

Hall, 

Alpha Wright, 
John Mandeville, 

Crozier, 

William Mandeville, 
J. Pearsall, 

L. D. Paddock, 
B. McLouth, 1847. 
Ransley Harrington. 
Thomas Tousey, 1863. 
H. P. Jervis. 

Hickok 

Peter McKinstry. 

Baker. 



Thomas Tousey. 
C. S. Fox. 
Robert Hogoboom. 
J. Kellogg, 1869. 
J. Alabaster, 1870. 
J. P. Farmer, 1872. 

B. H. Brown, 1873. 

C. W. Winchester, 1876. 
R. D. Munger, 1879. 

J. V. Benham, 1881. 
G. P. Avery, 1884. 
T. M. House, 1885. 
A. W. Broadway, 1886. 
E. B. Gearheart, 1888. 
H. C. Moyer, 1891. 
J. H. Rogers, 1893. 
S. F. Sanford, 1894. 
W. S. H. Hermans, 1897. 
W. H. Giles, 1898. 
Ezra Tinker, 1901. 
Edward J. Brooker, 1903. 



52 




M> thodist Episcopal Church. 



Doubtless the first local services of the Episcopal 
Church were held by the missionary — Davenport 
Phelps. On June 23, 1823, Zion Episcopal Church 
came into being under the ministry of the Rev. Rufus 
Murray. Joseph Colt and Benjamin Billings were the 
first wardens of the parish. Service was held in the 
Academy until February 1, 1829, when the Right Rev- 
erend Bishop Hobart consecrated the first building. 
This was of wood and stood on the present site. In 
July 1873, the Right Reverend Bishop Coxe conse- 
crated the present beautiful sandstone structure. The 
entire spire was given by George W. Cuyler, a memo- 
rial for his children. Miss Amy Chapman went out 
from this church as a missionary to the Freedmen. 
Rev. James H. Herendeen, rector of St. John's Church, 
Medina, entered the ministry from Zion Church. Right 
Reverend William Paret, D. D., LL. D., in 1885 con- 
secrated Bishop of Maryland, lived in Palmyra and 
studied with the Right Reverend George D. Gillespie, 
Bishop of Western Michigan, when he was rector of 
Zion Church. 



54 




The First Zion Episcopal Church. 



RECTORS OF ZION EPISCOPAL CHURCH. 



Rufus Murray. 
John A. Clark. 
Ezekiel G. Geer. 
John W. Guion. 
Burton H. Hickox. 
Jesse Pond. 
WilHam Stanton. 
John D. Gilbert. 
Clement M. Butler. 
T. L. Brittain. 



John W. Clark. 
Amos B. Beach. 
George D. Gillespie. 
Christopher T. Leffingwell. 
John Leach. 
John G. Webster. 
Charles T. Coerr. 
Leonard Woods Richardson. 
Charles T. Walkley. 
Emory S. Towson. 



55 




The Present Zion Episcopal Church. 



PASTORS OF ST. ANN'S ROMAN CATHOLIC 
CHURCH. 

John Twohay, July, 1850. Thomas Walsh, July, 1854. 

Michael Gilbride, Nov., 1852. William Casey, Aug., 1855. 
James Donelly, 1854. James E. Hartley, May, 1893. 



The first mass was said in Palmyra by Father 
O'Reilly of Rochester. St. Ann's Roman Catholic 
Church was organized in 1849 by Rev. Edmund O'Con- 
nor of Canandaigua, who had for some time said an 
occasional mass in Williamson hall. In 1848 or '49 
William F. Aldrich sold the old Academy to the Ro- 
manists, who used it as a church until 1861 when 
Bishop Timon blessed the present structure, and the 
congregation occupied it though unfinished. It was 
completed, and consecrated by the Right Reverend 
Bernard McQuaid on October 23, 1870. During 1903 
the congregation added a belfry and vestibule, while 
in October of that year a bell was hung — the gift of 
Mrs Mary Darmody. The parish has given two can- 
didates to the ministry — Thomas M. Moore and Fran- 
cis Goggin, D. D., professor in St. Bernard's Sem- 
inary, Rochester. 



57 




St. Ann's Roman Catholic Church. 




The Reformed Dutch Church. Formerly the Methodist Church. 

The Reformed Dutch Church of Palmyra, the out- 
growth of a mission, was organized August 15, 1887, 
with thirty-four members. Service was held in the 
Presbyterian Church until March, 1890, when the old 
Methodist Church on Cuyler Street was purchased of 
P. T. Sexton. 



PASTORS OF THE REFORMED DUTCH CHURCH. 



W. G. Bass, March, 1888. 
Wietze Lubach, 1890. 



G. Flikkema. 
J. Meulendyke. 



59 



Palmyra glories in her war record. Her founders 
were many of them Revolutionary veterans, while 
there are recorded the names of forty-three who fought 
in 1812. In this second war with England, General 
John Swift, a tried Revolutionary soldier, was on the 
Niagara frontier. At Queenston Heights he led a 
charge against Fort George and captured a picket post 
with some sixty men whom he did not disarm. One 
of the prisoners asked: "Who is General Swift?' "I 
am General Swift," he answered. The miscreant fired 
and mortally wounded the gallant commander. Gen- 
eral Swift was buried where he died, July 12, 1814, 
but was removed by his fellow citizens to Palmyra. 
The legislature presented his son with a sword as an 
acknowledgment of the father's patriotic services; and 
hung a portrait of the General in New York City Hall. 

The Civil War found Palmyra ready. Colonel 
Joseph W. Corning came home from the legislature 
to raise a company — Company B, 33rd Regiment of 
Infantry. On May 16, 1861, this company marched to 
the front with Joseph W. Corning, captain ; G. T. 
White, lieutenant; H, J. Draime, ensign. 

In 1862 Captain Seneca B. Smith, Lieutenant S. 
B. Mclntyre and Lieutenant A. P. Seeley took out 
company A, 111th Infantry — raised almost entirely in 
Palmyra. 

When Company B was mustered out in 1863 
Henry J. Draime wished to re-enlist. He set about 



6o 



raising a Veteran Cavalry company which he filled 
largely in Palmyra and led to the fighting line in No- 
vember. 

All told, four hundred and forty-two men of Pal- 
myra fought for the union. Unfortunately, better 
fortunately, the list is too long to name each and every 
gallant soldier. In the Village Hall are two marble 
tablets inscribed with the names of those soldiers who 
died during the war. 

The soldiers and sailors met January 15, 1881. 
and organized as the John H. Starin Post, G. A. R., 
which became the James A. Garfield Post in Septem- 
ber of that year. The first officers were : John G. Web- 
ster. C; Colonel A. P. Seeley, S. V. C. ; Murganzy 
Hopkins, J. V. C. ; William I. Reid, O. of D. ; William 
W. WilHamson, Q. M. ; I. C. G. Crandall, Chap. ; John 
Pitkin. Surg.; William S. Gilbert, O. of G. ; Colonel 
George McGown, Adj.; John Allis, S. M. ; James B. 
Beckwith, Q. M. S. To-day the officers are: Major 
H. P. Knowles, C. ; Colonel F. W. demons, S. V. C. ; 
James West, J. V. C. ; M. V. B. Randolph, Adj.; Colo- 
nel A. P. Seeley, Surg.; Joseph Benedict, Q. M. ; L. H. 
Essex, Chap. ; Howard Campbell, O. of G. ; Jacob Zeig- 
ler, 0« of D. 

In connection with the Civil War it may be said 
that the house of the late Pliny Sexton on Main Street 
was a regular station of the Underground Railway; 
and that Dr. Eaton helped many fugitive slaves. The 



6i 



Doctor's study was in the belfry of the Presbyterian 
Church, just under the clock. One morning a number 
of fugitives were consulting with the Doctor about 
reaching the lake shore and crossing to Canada. Of a 
sudden the most terrific clanging brought them terror 




Home of the Late Pliny Sexton, A Station of the Underground Railway. 

Stricken to their knees. They besought their supposed 
benefactor not to give them up to their master ; they 
prayed the Lord to be merciful. After twelve re- 
sounding strokes all was still. The clock had struck 
the noon. 



62 



The Spanish-American War drew its quota from 
Palmyra. WilHam Thomas Sampson was born here 
February 9, 1840. In 1857 he entered the United 
States Naval Academy at Annapolis from which he 
was graduated at the head of the class of 1861. 

Sampson served afloat and ashore during the 
Civil War, and through the long peace from '65 to '98. 
He was given command of the North Atlantic Squad- 
ron in the spring of 1898. He arrived off Santiago the 
first day of June and assumed command of the Flying 
Squadron with his own. Then began the blockade 
of Santiago harbor which continued until the third of 
July when Rear Admiral Sampson annihilated the 
Spanish fleet under Cevera. 

October 26, 1899, William T. Sampson, tired and 
worn, came home to receive the warmest welcome the 
town could give, for Palmyra delighted to do him 
honor. 

Admiral Sampson died in Washington, D. C, 
May 6, 1902, and lies buried in the National Cemetery 
at Arlington. On Sunday, May 11, his friends in Pal- 
myra gathered in the Presbyterian Church for a memo- 
rial service. 

The national government gave Palmyra a gun 
taken from the Spanish Almirante Oquendo, destroyed 
at Santiago. The cannon was placed in a conspicuous 
place on Main street, and on Memorial Day, 1903, was 
dedicated to the memory of Rear Admiral Sampson. 

63 




'Death makes no conquest of this conqueror, 
For no7v he lives in fame, tho' not in tife.^^ 

— Shakesi'Earh. 



64 



At the dedicatory services Hon. Pliny T. Sexton de- 
livered the following address: 

"To the philanthropist war is unspeakably horri- 
ble and hateful, and its instruments of destruction are 
hideous. Yet, the grass grows greener and the flowers 
take on brighter hues in the fields whereon warring 
human beings have shed each others blood. And the 
philosopher, taught by the lessons of history, and 
gifted with prophetic vision, easily perceives that war 
has been, and yet must be, a necessary agency in secur- 
ing and preserving for mankind the inestimable bless- 
ings of liberty and peace. 

"Redeemed by such usefulness, and idealized by 
such associations, the instruments of warfare lose 
their repulsiveness, and even come to be admired as 
justified means to justified ends. And today, as we 
are halted here for our brief dedicatory services by 
the side of this great cannon, we are thinking little of 
its terrible destroying power; but are regarding it 
rather as a comforting reminder of our beloved de- 
parted son and brother, the illustrious Admiral Samp- 
son, whose faithfulness, valor, and genius organized 
the marvelous naval victory which, at Santiago, wrest- 
ed this gun from the control of the supporters of a de- 
testable despotism and crushing tyranny which had 
long dominated some of the fairest lands of earth and 
ruthlessly oppressed millions of people. 

It was eminently fitting that the nation should 
give this notable gun to the village of Palmyra — the 

65 



birthplace of Admiral Sampson. The nation had kept 
from us his sacred dust, which we fain would have 
brought home to water with our tears and guard dur- 
ing the years. It surely could not well do less than 
to place here, as it has done, on this greensward, along 
this village street — once so familiar to our brother's 
feet — this speaking signal of the last great and crown- 
ing achievement of his life. 

Concerning that glorious event, it is not permitted 
me now to enlarge ; nor may I detail his fruitful career 
since the going forth from our peaceful village, nearly 
half a century ago, of the even then "wonderful Samp- 
son boy" to consecrate himself to the service of his 
country. For this occasion it must suffice to say that 
with never abating zeal, from youth until death, all 
the great powers with which his Maker had endowed 
him, and all which the most sedulous cultivation de- 
veloped in him, were unsparingly devoted to safe 
guarding and advancing the welfare and glory of his 
native land. He knew no greater or sweeter duty than 
serving his country; and permitted himself neither 
rest nor indulgence when that duty called. Faithful- 
ness was the keystone of his character; excelsior his 
motto : and manifold and splendid were his achieve- 
ments. 

"That it may not be thought that I have sum- 
marized with extravagance, or have been unduly biased 
by my love for the friend of all my life, let me add the 



66 



testimony of witnesses who can be in no wise im- 
peached. 

"Speaking of Admiral Sampson as a student at 
the Naval Academy, Admiral Philip, who was his 
classmate, has said: 

" 'No matter what the subject of study was — 
mathematics, French, moral science, or seamanship — 
Sampson, with invariable regularity, had the perfect 
marking in his class. . . He was graduated 

number one.' 

"Of him later, as Superintendent of the Naval 
Academy, whose conditions and methods he greatly 
improved, Mr. Park Benjamin in his history of the 
Naval Academy, says : 

" 'When Commander Sampson's tour of duty at 
the Naval Academy ended, there remained little for 
any one else to do, save to keep the standard of effi- 
ciency unimpaired.' 

"In the final mortuary record made of him in Ap- 
pleton's Encyclopedia, referring to his comprehensive 
connection with the North Atlantic Squadron, whose 
almost unparalleled victory in the naval battle of 
Santiago won for the United States Navy imperisha- 
ble renown, it is said: 'It was Sampson who designed 
and built the guns; designed and built the projectiles; 
designed and built the armor; placed the batteries 
upon the ships and superintended their construction ; 
aided in the preparation of the drill book; drilled the 



67 



crews and officers; and finally took command of the 
fleet and fought it through a successful war.' 

"If national gratitude were something unknown, 
as it is not; yet for very selfishness alone, nations 
must still preserve the memories of such public serv- 
ants. All motives move thereto. And gladly may we 
realize and agree that properly this memorial gun has 
been given to us of Palmyra not simply to minister to 
our gratitude, but also, and more, that its presence 
here shall through generation after generation, awaken 
our local pride and affection the more often to recount 
the inspiring story of the immeasurably valuable life 
of Admiral Sampson. And so, with such impelling, 
and with all impelling, and with a depth of personal 
affectionate feeling which those not of Palmyra and 
not of Sampson's generation may not fully under- 
stand, we do now by these simple services gratefully 
accept and lovingly dedicate this enduring trophy gun 
to the perpetuation of the memory of Admiral William 
Thomas Sampson. And, with the nation and for the 
nation, we do also dedicate all of the inspirations of 
his blessed memory, even as he dedicated his whole 
life to the continuing service of his beloved country." 




•itt^^^^ 



HOMES 





David Aldrich Homestead. 





Nl 


;^_J 


li 




^ 


l^^aR^''J^'--T '■ 




s 




^^ 


^ 



Aldrich Bridge. 



70 




John K. Williamson. 



•s:. ^Sk^2?S'7S;T.;?s*iS3 




Mrs. Edna Crandall Nicholas. 




Mrs. Lucy Lakey Bowman. 




Samuel H. Hunt. 

75 




Hon. Frederick W. Griffith. 



76 




The Late Major Samuel Beckwith Mclntyre, Now Occupied by His 
Daughters, Mrs. George Bush, and Mrs. W. J. Bott. 



UEC 18 190^4 






■'^•^■>4 



,^«, 



